get one's shine box

English

Alternative forms
  • get one's shinebox

Etymology

Popularized by the movie Goodfellas (1990), where the character William "Billy Batts" Bentvena uses the phrase in an insulting allusion to Tommy DeVito's previous job as a shoeshiner.

Pronunciation
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Verb

get one's shine box (third-person singular simple present gets one's shine box, present participle getting one's shine box, simple past got one's shine box, past participle (UK) got one's shine box or (US) gotten one's shine box)

  1. (idiomatic, slang) Used as an insult.
    • 2016 February 16, Ben Domenech, “At Tonight’s Debate, Take a Flamethrower to Trump”, in The Federalist (blog)‎:
      Make note of his stubby fingers and small hands – we all know what that means. When he responds with ever-increasing insults and shushing, tell him to go get his shinebox.
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