From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishto coin a phraseto coin a phrasespokenUSE something said in a joking way when you use a very common expression, to show that you know it is used a lot He’d thought the flight would never – to coin a phrase – get off the ground. → coin
Examples from the Corpus
to coin a phrase• He was going to have fun if it killed him, to coin a phrase.• I had to find out the hard way - to coin a phrase.• It is an odd sidelight, to coin a phrase, on road accidents.• Miller was trying to help his career and, to coin a phrase, snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 