rank and file
Meaning: The non-management workers in a company or the non-leadership members of a political party.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The expression comes from the military formation of soldiers side by side (rank) and one behind the other (file) forming large groups such as platoons. The expression has come to be applied to the non-management workers in a union (sentence 1) or company (sentence 2). READ BETWEEN THE LINES to understand a message that is alluded to but not directly said or written
More idioms — Daily Life
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More English idioms
- roll with the punches — To adjust to bad fortune; to take a relaxed attitude towards life and its problems.
- see someone or something through rose-colored glasses — To see something in a falsely good way; not to see something objectively.
- rub elbows with someone — To associate with someone; to come into contact with someone.
- rub someone the wrong way — To irritate someone.
- run amok — To run around in a frenzied or disorderly way.
- run circles around someone — To outperform someone by a wide margin; to be better than someone.
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