blocking and tackling
nounEtymology From US football.
- Some are caught up in the vision. Others are turned off and say he's a self-promoter who doesn't know anything about the blocking and tackling of the brokerage business.1999 March 16, Saul Hansell, “THE MARKETS: Market Place -- Trading on E*Trade's Success; Chief Has Aggressive Plans to Expand Internet Broker”, in New York Times:
- Cummings has been instrumental in the design of a computer simulation that he says will teach "the basic blocking and tackling of urban warfare.2002 November 16, Ron Martz, “U.S. soldiers train for urban warfare; 'A knife fight in a phone booth,' is what troops liken it to. U.S. forces are preparing.”, in Atlanta Journal Constitution:
1 more example
- This is admittedly the bare basics of journalism, and one would hope it took more than simple journalistic blocking and tackling to become our most trusted practitioner.2009 December, anonymous author, “Letters to the Editor”, in Atlantic Monthly, volume 304, number 5, page 10: