JOHN HANCOCK one’s signature 1. If you’ll just put your John Hancock on this line at the bottom of the contract, you can drive the car away right now. 2. They sent the check back because he forgot to put his John Hancock on it. The expression refers to the signature of the first person to sign the American Declaration of Independence in 1776. John Hancock’s signature was larger than the others and stood out clearly. JOHNNY-COME-LATELY a newcomer 1. You can’t expect to join the company, take over immediately, and not cause some hard feelings. To the workers, you’re a Johnny-come-lately. 2. The author of the book was under attack because he was a Johnny-come-lately to the field and didn’t have the reputation that the older, more established authors had. ON THE NOSE exactly 1. Their parents tried not to tell them where they were going, but the children were too clever for them. They guessed it on the nose. 2. The children’s father told them each to think of a number between one and ten. The child who chose the closest number to the one he was thinking of would get the larger piece of candy. His youngest daughter picked the number on the nose. ON THE FRITZ not working correctly |