Meaning of smell of an oily rag | Babel Free

Definitions

A very small amount, or the absolute minimum (usually of money).

Australia, New-Zealand, idiomatic

Examples

“We have found them in the remote corners of Asia Minor, sans souliers, sans culottes, often in rags, living on the smell of an oily rag or a raw onion, trying their best to preserve order where their own miserable officials have brought shame and disgrace upon their tarnished colours.”

“Full of bog, goes anywhere you want to go, don't pay for insurance, runs on the smell of an oily rag.”

“... they did not prepare someone for the smell-of-an-oily-rag budgets and ratings-driven world of Australian commercial television.”

“They're prone to giving away their rations and living off the smell of an oily rag.”

“"We did it on the smell of an oily rag", says Danielle Kootman of Tourism Queensland.”

“They had the smell of an oily rag to work on.”

“There remains ABC Radio, which is the best known example of the relationship between the smell of an oily rag and the will to keep going.”

CEFR level