English

Verb

keep it on the barber pole

1. (intransitive, slang) To do something correctly.

Usage notes

It is a variation of the colloquial “straighten up and fly right” expression with a similar meaning. Its origin is that in many airplanes the artificial horizon has a solid pattern above the horizon indicator and strips (similar to a barber pole’s) below this line. When the plane indicator is sitting “on the barber pole” the airplane is flying level.

See also

• Five by five