A term used to tell someone to get down because bullets are going to be fired in their general direction in the immediate future. The general idea behind wording the phrase this way is to let your friend know what is about to happen whilest leaving your helpless, soon to be, victims in the dark.
Used by Bullet-Toothed Tony in the movie "Snatch"
Used by Bullet-Toothed Tony in the movie "Snatch"
by hopeagnsthope313 September 28, 2006

literally referring to what Abraham Lincoln (read a few law books he found in a junk barrel, then became a lawyer and later President of The United States and Booker T Washington (learned to read and write as a black apprentice sailor) actually did, this term means:
to legally work, or rather legally to nigger, one's way up the social ladder of one's society in one's zeitgeist using nothing but one's own blood, sweat, toil, common sense, education and street-smarts
to legally work, or rather legally to nigger, one's way up the social ladder of one's society in one's zeitgeist using nothing but one's own blood, sweat, toil, common sense, education and street-smarts
son: I don't understand how Abraham Lincoln legally achieved what he did. He was born on a bloody farm.
father: Jordan, just stop blabbering and learn the meaning of the phrase to pull yourself up by your boot straps and you'll do just as well. Now good night.
father: Jordan, just stop blabbering and learn the meaning of the phrase to pull yourself up by your boot straps and you'll do just as well. Now good night.
by Sexydimma May 18, 2012

"Man, when I get outta class I am gonna get some chinese food with extra MSG and pull the bars up on the crib."
by Chris Giarraputo December 9, 2004

by Mickqy March 12, 2019

by 69Chaboi69 February 6, 2022

A social phenomenon in which individuals or groups who have successfully advanced in status, wealth, or opportunity then act to block others from accessing the same path upward.
Key Features:
Motivated by fear of competition, scarcity mindset, or desire to protect hard-won status.
Can manifest in politics (e.g., immigrants opposing immigration), economics (e.g., professionals gatekeeping their fields), or class mobility (e.g., elites dismantling welfare or education programs they once benefited from).
Example (fictional): Raymond Leon in the movie "In Time" rises out of poverty to become a Timekeeper but enforces the very system that traps others where he once was.
Example (real): An immigrant who gained citizenship but campaigns to restrict immigration for others.
Key Features:
Motivated by fear of competition, scarcity mindset, or desire to protect hard-won status.
Can manifest in politics (e.g., immigrants opposing immigration), economics (e.g., professionals gatekeeping their fields), or class mobility (e.g., elites dismantling welfare or education programs they once benefited from).
Example (fictional): Raymond Leon in the movie "In Time" rises out of poverty to become a Timekeeper but enforces the very system that traps others where he once was.
Example (real): An immigrant who gained citizenship but campaigns to restrict immigration for others.
1. After becoming wealthy through public education, the politician now opposes funding for schools, effectively pulling up the ladder behind him.
2. Some immigrants, once they gain citizenship, support restrictive immigration policies — a classic case of pulling up the ladder.
2. Some immigrants, once they gain citizenship, support restrictive immigration policies — a classic case of pulling up the ladder.
by Social Climber September 16, 2025

by .6.9.7.6.ArimorylulA.8.3.0.5. August 4, 2025
