get on the stick

get on the stick idiom
Start working, as in I have to get on the stick and start preparing dinner. This synonym for get going or get busy alludes to getting a car going by manipulating the gearshift, or stick. [Slang; early 1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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