pour on the coal

Speed up, as in They keep passing us so pour on the coal, Mom! or We can get this issue of the paper out on time if we pour on the coal. This slangy expression originated in aviation in the 1930s but must have been an allusion to the coal-burning engines of trains and ships, since aircraft were never so powered. It has since been transferred to other vehicles and other endeavors.

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Example Sentences

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When we dropped behind, pilot Davis would pour on the coal and we’d be back in formation.

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Its tankmen and motorized infantrymen were given rations for ten days, ordered to pour on the coal and get to the Rhine.

Nothing on any planet can stop this baby once I pour on the coal.

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