Question

Fly-by-Night selling for quick profit then disappearing; a swindler or unreliable person

Accepted Answer

The store where I bought that defective CD player was a fly-by-night operation. Fly-by-night was an ancient term that described a woman who was thought to be like a witch. Witches were supposed to fly at night on brooms, and the term came to mean anyone who flies hurriedly from an activity. In the late 1800s this expression was made up to describe a person or business that sneaked away in the middle of the night to avoid paying bills or making good on promises to customers.

Idiom	Fly-by-Night
Example	The store where I bought that defective CD player was a fly-by-night operation.
Meaning	selling for quick profit then disappearing; a swindler or unreliable person
Origin	Fly-by-night was an ancient term that described a woman who was thought to be like a witch. Witches were supposed to fly at night on brooms, and the term came to mean anyone who flies hurriedly from an activity. In the late 1800s this expression was made up to describe a person or business that sneaked away in the middle of the night to avoid paying bills or making good on promises to customers.

Fly By Night Person Term Night Store I Bought Defective