Meaning of until the pips squeak | Babel Free

Definitions

Until the maximum amount has been extracted.

UK

Examples

“Churchill was looking back to a statement made in 1918 by the British politician and businessman Eric Campbell Geddes. A Unionist candidate in the General Election of that year (seen as a 'khaki' election), he was pressed to make⟳ clear his position on war reperations to be extracted from Germany. An account of his speech at Cambridge, 10 December 1918, appeared in the Cambridge Daily News of the following day. According to this report⟳, Geddes said: 'The Germans, if this Government is returned, are going to pay⟳ every penny; they are going to be squeezed as a lemon is squeezed - until the pips squeak.”

“Martyrs are desperate to demonstrate⟳ their self-flagellatory capabilities in the hope⟳ that someone out there actually cares. If they think⟳ their peers or bosses really do, then they are seriously deluding themselves; I'm afraid the Martyr will be exploited until the pips squeak.”

“It's also possible that this Dennis is based on the real-life Labour firebrand, Denis Healey (b. 1917), the shadow of Chancellor of the Exchequer 1972-1974. In the run-up to the 1974 general election, Healey was particularly on point⟳, promising that when Labour took back the government ten days later (Febrary 28), he'd “squeeze⟳ property speculators until the pips squeak,” as well as “wring⟳ the neck of the Housing Finance Act.””

“I’m no fan of the Labour leader, but if you take⟳ a look⟳ at the supposedly Marxist plans he and John McDonnell have⟳ put⟳ forward⟳, they’re not exactly planning to tax the rich until the pips squeak.”

“In the meantime he will continue⟳ to squeeze⟳ the Iranian economy until the pips squeak because clearly it is bothering them.”

CEFR level