Know Your English (Nov 2001)-14

Know your English

WHAT IS the meaning of "fly by night" operators?

Every month we read in the papers that the manager of some chit fund company has disappeared with the hard earned money of his clients. Such people can be called fly by night operators. They set up a company, do roaring business for about six months and then they suddenly disappear. They are there one day and then perform the disappearing act overnight. The word ``fly'' in the expression means to ``flee", that is to run away. Since the shady characters who run such businesses leave town during the dead of night when everyone else is sound asleep, they are called ``fly by night operators". All this build up should have given you a fairly good idea as to what the expression means. It means ``undependable, dishonest". The expression can be used with people as well as with organizations. Here are a few examples.

*There are many fly by night characters staying in that hotel.

*If I were you, I wouldn't join that fly by night company.

*Nirmal is very dependable, not a fly by night character at all.

Did you know that you could refer to a person as "fly"? When you say that someone is "fly", it means he/she is very knowledgeable about something. This use of the word "fly" is considered slang. So do not use it in formal contexts. Here are a few examples.

*Amrit is fly, there's no doubt about it.

*You don't have to be fly to do this job.

The word also means, "stylish, nice looking".

*Some of the girls think that the present Vice Chancellor is really fly.

*No one in his right mind would say that the groom is fly.

*I like your fly sandals, Raju.


Source:

The Hindu daily, Tuesday, November 20, 2001