between the Trucker’s Breakfast or the Pigs in a Poke , finally deciding on the latter. 3. = pigs in a blanket 2: For a cowboy breakfast theme she would serve pigs in a poke (pancake- wrapped sausages) and hot or cold chocolate milk. pillow partner • sleeping partner pillow partner —(sl.) smb. with whom a person regularly has sex outside marriage: I can usually make use of a native pillow partner . Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the compound bed-fellowone’s companion or associate: The odd- est of enemies might become bedfellows . sleeping partner—1. (also: dormant partner) a partner who does not take an active part in managing the business: He has been the sleeping partner who has supplied a great part of their capital. 2. (sl.) = pillow partner: Your sleeping partner would provide you with an alibi. pin back one’s ears • pin back someone’s ears pin back one’s ears—1. (UK sl.) listen attentively: Pin back your ears , people, this is quite a story! 2. (Sport) give the game the necessary degree of effort: Dafydd had a big game, even if he didn’t pin back his ears and finish one or two moves as he should have done. pin back someone’s ears—(U.S. sl.) rebuke a person severely: When a man pays you a heavy-handed compliment, do you smile graciously or pin back his ears with a sharp quip? pin someone on the ropes • put someone up to the ropes pin someone on the ropes —(Boxing ) force an opponent back on to the ropes: Referee Brimmell stepped in to save Scot after the challenger had pinned him on the ropes for fully a minute. put someone up to the ropes—make a person understand the way to do smth.: Our pilot allowed me to spend part of the time with him on the bridge and put me up to the ropes . Cf.: know the ropes—be familiar with a particular kind of work: You won’t have to train the new computer operator; she already knows the ropes . pink elephant • white elephant pink elephant—1. (usually in the phrase “see a pink elephant”) said of a visionary hallucination caused by over-indulgence in alcohol: Ben had been extremely (to the pink elephant sighting stage) drunk after he had been forced to take command. 2. a problem that everyone knows well but no one talks about because it is embarrassing: It’s like there’s a pink elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge. How long can you go before someone says something or does something? white elephant—a possession or piece of property that is useless or unwanted, especially one that is inconvenient or expensive to keep: The automobile was a large Mercedes-Benz: I kept it a week or so but it was so heavy that it was a “white elephant ” on country roads. Cf.: white elephant sale — a sort of odds and ends sale on people’s front yard at bargain-basement prices: A few weeks back I found some signed paintings at a white elephant sale . They were just $3 each… pink money • red money pink money—money spent by people who are homosexual, especially on entertainment: With the rise of the gay rights movement, pink money has gone from being a fringe or mar- ginalized market to a thriving industry in many parts of the Western world. Cf.: grey pound—(UK) used of the economic power of elderly people: The battle for the so-called “grey pound ” has become increasingly prominent in the insurance market. red money—(U.S.) 1. money from the states whose residents predominantly vote for the Republican Party, as contrasted with “blue money” associated with the Democratic Party: There are parts of upstate New York which are so red they make Alabama look liberal. This is not one of those, but it could give Kentucky a run for its red money . 2. money coming specifically from communist China: Clinton’s policy served to line the pockets of greedy corporate executives with red money . The Clinton export policy has significantly upgraded the nuclear firepower of the Chinese Army. Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase red cent—(negat., emphatic) not a penny; no money at all: You are asking me to donate money to the party and I’m telling you I will not donate one red cent . See also: black money / white money. pivot man • pivotal man pivot man —(Basketball) a player guarding second base: The pivot man is facing mid-court, back to the basket, and with feet spread for good balance. He must be extremely protective of the ball. pivotal man—1. a prominent person; a key figure: He was the pivotal man in my life who taught me the value of hard work, social consciousness and the concept of fairy tale versus reality. 2. (UK hist.) a man considered to have an important role in the re-establishment of industry after the war of 1914– 1918: She found Blinkhorn in France and managed to have him demobilized as a pivotal man . place of work • working place place of work —the office, factory, etc. where a person works: An employee wishing to leave his place of work must give his employer a similar prior notice as described above. working place—a specific location at which a worker exe- cutes his work: Shift-man—a man who prepares the working places at night in a colliery for the men who come in at next shift. plain and simple • pure and simple plain and simple —(of language, instructions, etc.) clear; not complicated: He can explain matters in plain and simple terms that are easy for a mainstream American to grasp. pure and simple—nothing but…; nothing besides… (used in post-position for emphasis): This is envy, pure and simple , and a tax policy based on envy is the worst kind. plain men • plainsmen plain men —(also: plain people) ordinary or average men; people not given to complex reasoning or speculation: The first people to listen to Jesus’ words and to become his disciples were plain men , fishermen of Galilee. plainsmen —(also: plains people) inhabitants of the wide open plains of a particular region: Experienced ranchmen never turn a bunch of green brood-mares out unless accompanied by three or four of these sagacious little plainsmen . plain people • plains people plain people —1. (also: plain men) ordinary or average men; people not given to complex reasoning or speculation: The plain people of Northern Ireland are surprised by nothing and shocked by very little. 2. (Plain People) members of religious groups who practice a simple way of life: The Plain People , as they are known, won’t use automobiles or tractors, have no telephones, plumbing or political parties. plains people —1. (also: plainsmen) inhabitants of the wide open plains of a particular region: The appellation “Naga” was actually given to these hill tribes by the plains people . 2. (also: Plains Indians) Indians of the Great Plains of central United States and Canada: As a plains people they [the Pawnee] were largely dependent upon the chase. – 267 – plain people