AT THE CRACK DOWN
The word crack was used in the 18th century to mean ‘a moment’, in reference to the time occupied by the crack, or shot, of a gun. It was used in at the crack of dawn (and sometimes at the crack of day) to express the idea of the moment when night becomes day. It is now used to mean ‘very early in the morning’.
FALL OF THA BACK OF A LORRY When somebody says that something has fallen off the back of a lorry, they are using a euphemism. What they mean is that it has been stolen, or obtained in some other dishonest way. The expression is often used as a joke about something that is unusually cheap.
PULL YOUR WEIGHT
This phrase comes from rowing. If you pull your weight when you are rowing a boat with other rowers, you are using the ight amount of energy in proportion to the size of your body. In general use it means that you are working as hard as possible as other people in your group or team.
RIP SOMEBODY OFF and a RIP-OFF
These are relatively recent phrases, which originated in America in the 1960s. Originally, if someone ripped somebody off, they stole something from them. Now it usually means to cheat somebody by charging too much for something. If something is a rip-off, it is more expensive than it should be.
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