"tooth and neck"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

Jeff Shaumeyer, on his blog (http://bearcastle.com/blog/?p=1245)
reporting on "tooth and neck" in an episode of This American Life on
NPR:
it happened about 8 minutes and 41 seconds into the piece. One Mike
Garner, of Silver State Mortgage in Nevada, was talking about how Wall
Street kept lowering its standards for mortgage qualification in order
to increase the number of mortgages written to feed the investment
monster. They were so desperate that they finally worked their way
down to the "NINA", or "No Income-No Assets', apparently AKA "the
liar's loan". Garner, speaking of his boss, who thought this was
financial craziness, said

"He hated those loans… He fought the owners and sales force tooth and
neck about these guidelines."

.....

jeff googled up a few more (legitimate) examples.

blend of "tooth and nail" and "neck and neck", maybe.

(hat tip to Chris Ambidge)

arnold

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