Photo credit: HoskingIndustries
‘Such experienced IT developers are thin on the ground‘.
This wonderful expression that I’ve heard many times means that something is scarce, something of which there is not enough. A similar phrase springs to mind though – hard to come by.
Let’s have a look at their uses:
– In recent years it has kept architecture magazines drip-fed with self-consciously iconic projects of the kind that has been thin on the ground since the recession (The Guardian).
– American lifestyle survey finds ‘new men’ thin on the ground (The Guardian).
– Work is thin on the ground so Pete gets a job in a chicken packing factory (Channel4.com).
– Free hotel wifi is hard to come by (BBC).
Confessions of the Linguistic Spy 