Crossword Genius

Can Pearl get a grip, in a manner of speaking? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

parlance

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'in a manner of speaking?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'can pearl get a grip' is the wordplay.
'can' indicates anagramming the letters (I've seen 'canned' mean this (canned can mean drunk)).
'get' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'a grip' becomes 'anc' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'pearl' anagrammed gives 'parle'.
'parle' going around 'anc' is 'PARLANCE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for parlance that I've seen before include "Way of using words" , "Manner of speaking peculiar to a specific group" , "Jargon" , "talk!" , "Way of speaking" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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