“Then this guy runs in, drunk as a bartender on his night off, screaming incomprehensible blasphemies and racial slurs. He knocked a hole in the wall bare-fisted, elbowed his way to the bar, and swung at me with the tire iron. Complete mayhem broke out—first came the clowns, then came the elephants, then a mounted policewoman yelled at the crowds to move back, when suddenly and without any warning, the army opened fire. The blast tore a hole in the wall, bullets riddled the bar top, glasses shattered, bottles exploded . . . It’s a miracle no one was killed in the accident.”
“Well, Canadians are notoriously prickly about being taken for Americans.”
Sources: New Oxford American Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, The Home Book of Proverbs, Maxims and Familiar Phrases, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary