hanging over the basket is an expression used mostly on industrial and business environments that refers to an individual being on a powerless or difficult situation with limited options to get past it. It is also used as a threatening expression that shows that an individual has the power to control or manipulate someone else.
- I've been trying to get a raise so I can't really complain about some of my job's situation. My boss has me hanging over the basket!
- If you don't have that package shipped by Wendesday, mark my words, I'll have you hanging over the basket...
A Shackteau is a humble, weather-beaten, structurally questionable shelter located in a spectacular or highly coveted place—Wales, Jackson Hole, Sun Valley, Crested Butte, coastal Maine, the Alps—where the building itself may be worth almost nothing, but the dirt, view, access, and mythology make it absurdly valuable.
In use:
Shackteâu - We thought it was an abandoned shed until the realtor called it a rare alpine Shackteâu with unobstructed views and listed it for $2 million.