Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
ass in a sling en · NOUN
Meanings
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(Canada, US, informal, uncountable, usually, vulgar) An uncomfortable personal state of affairs involving injury, defeat, or other trouble, especially a state of affairs resulting from one's own ill-considered actions.
I see our asses in a sling if we get caught, that's what I see.
1977, Smokey and the Bandit (film), screenplay, 10:21 (retrieved 24 July 2015)I think that kind of breathless egotism deserves little more than to limp home with its arse in a sling.
1995 December 19, Alex Sharkey, “Dear Roger Mear”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 24 Jul 2015:Dempsey briefed senior HUD officials on federal ethics rules in early 1981, he said, "and most of those who later got their ass in a sling sat there and ignored it."
1986 April 27, Howard Kurtz, “Reagan's People: Issues of Propriety”, in Washington Post, retrieved 24 Jul 2015:[T]he bullpen's continued ineffectiveness has to fall on John Mozeliak. . . . If it ends up with Johnny Mo's ass in a sling, so be it.
2011 June 15, Aaron Schafer, “Cardinals Still Struggling to Spell Relief”, in Riverfront Times, retrieved 24 Jul 2015:[Frank Sinatra] asked me what I was doing. I said, "The usual. Making pictures. You?" He said, "The usual. Getting my ass in a sling."
2013 July, Ava Gardner, Peter Evans, “Three Men and a Goddess”, in Vanity Fair, retrieved 24 Jul 2015:
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